Job Discussion Forums

[CNexpatesl]

Has anyone ever worked for them? Are they reliable?

From what I understand, they're based out of Shanghai, and you can only work for them if you live in China. They claim to pay 10,000-12,000 RMB, but make you do two or three free demos before you sign a contract. Is this likely a scam?

[murray1978]

Ask them to give you contact information of a current teacher and ask them what the school is like. I always ask for contact information of at least two teachers currently there and get a hold of them outside of working hours.

Sounds like you are going to stick it out with your limited funds.

Good luck!

[scott1618]

Any word on this company yet? I am also trying to follow up on them. I asked for references, to see if I can trust getting paid, ask about the job, etc. I was told twice that they cannot and will not give this information. I have not signed a contract, but I have talked with them. I am waiting for their reply now. Seems an unclear process.

They have posted on their site other teachers' videos. And I watched classes in real time. At least that is some reassurance that teachers are indeed teaching for them, and hopefully getting paid.

They only hire part time, so they jobs are not visa sponsored. What is the legality of that in China? If they are only hiring part time and offering nothing, why make you sign anything?

Anyone have experience negotiating a salary with them? They told me they pay 120 to 180 per hour.

Thanks for your feedback!

[roadwalker]

[jimpellow]

Roadwalker walks the road of truth.

Also, "Anyone have experience negotiating a salary with them? They told me they pay 120 to 180 per hour. "

C'mon! That is so much more than other what online Chinese schools pay it really borders on ludicrous. You couldn't even make that with the best online Japanese schools which are generally first in terms of pay.

I asked Dave to open an Online Teaching forum, but seems not to be.

[scott1618]

Thank you for the replies.

More notes for people considering this school: I communicated with their wechat representative (this seems to be the only way they talk to you). I'd say they are not big on transparency. I had to ask questions many times to get responses. I actually don't think it's them trying to be difficult. I think it's laziness.

1. I contacted DaDaABC on wechat. They were quick to respond to me. The feeling is that they are quite happy to funnel you right into working for them, no questions asked! ...of course...
2. They set up an IT interview for you. This is nothing more than some "IT" guy asking you questions about your internet and then leading you through a basic power point type presentation of how to teach on their UI. I'd say it's not really an IT interview.
Note: they want you to be in China for this job. Seems that if you are not in China, they ask you to use a VPN to look like you're from China. What is the world coming to?
3. Silence from them. At this point I'm also just seeing what this job will say. Silence until I message them - hey, what's next, coolio?
4. The next step is for me to do a demo class for them. They schedule a class for you, real student. They rate your performance based on: 1. teaching method: does a teacher use an appropriate method according to student's age group; 2. Facial expression; 3. body language; 4. parents' feedback; 5. Student's feedback. I had to ask how much they paid again. Seems like they are not very logical in their sequence of relaying info, but I get that from most schools here. This time they told me 100 to 170. When I questioned that, they went back to 120 to 180. And how was this determined? by the scores from a demo class. I see 4 & 5 as rather arbitrary - you'd almost need an average of many students to be fair, but then hey!! let's give them multiple classes for free. Asked how often their pay was updated based upon performance - 6 months. Also how often are teachers paid - monthly on the 10th.

So, after the demo, your pay is set and you would then sign a contract and off to the races. I asked to see a contract. No reply.

As I looked at their website, through the account they set up for me, I saw about 5 live classes. They also have a list of their recommended classes to watch - like the good samples. If you've ever taught in your life, you'd be fine to work for this company. This is not high-flying education here. I wouldn't say it's terrible. The kids seem to have fun, and it's an easy environment for kids to use their English. You don't have to make lesson plans as you use the very simple lessons already supplied. No stress for the teacher. Quality of teachers was a mix.

My feelings - it's a part time job. I'm already in China working. Thought to pick up some side job. I get the feeling like this is just that. Yes, their communication has been what would be considered less than professional in the West, but rather typical for what I see in the part-time ESL Asia world. I probably ask more questions than most. I don't think they foresee my questions, which are basic questions anywhere else. Oh, classes are 20 minutes each, you're paid by the hour. If the student likes you, they would choose you again. No idea on how many students there are. I asked this question to see if one could be assured of classes. They said they wouldn't answer even if they knew. Thanks for that strange answer! And again, they would not give references.

I think this is just a "do-it" type of job, see if it works out, minimal risk. You could certainly argue that you're going to waste your time if you don't get paid. In some ways, if you're after a part-time gig, this is less risky as you work from home. I personally wouldn't want to sign a contract, as you stated above, but they seem to require that before moving forward.

Hope this helps anyone considering them.

[blackman75]

Did you end up working for them? Does anyone here work for them? Also how do you find them on WeChat? I can't find them.

[BadBeagleBad]

[quote="roadwalker"]

[blackman75]

[quote="BadBeagleBad"]

[roadwalker]

[scott1618]

Sure, I get you. Asking for an email to talk to some teacher might be a bit different than asking an in-house teacher to talk with a prospective. But, really? They would go through the same steps: ask the other teacher first if they are comfortable doing this. And only then would they let us contact each other, protecting the privacy of both. Kinda the same as a brick and mortar. And can you even trust it? Dunno. They can get some guy who's invested in the program.

Easiest guess is that they are a company trying to make money, trying to teach kids English. You still just wanna do your due diligence before wasting too much effort. That's a month's pay to test, without knowing if it's gonna work out for you. Without knowing if you get the hours necessary. But not a huge risk just to give it a go. And I agree that if one were to work without sponsorship, then sure, working online would surely be less risky than being in a classroom.

For the record, it's all part time. No visas.

[blackman75]

[blackman75]

[blackman75]

OK now they are claiming they can only hire if you are in China and no VPN. Kind of messed up.

[scott1618]

Hiring only if in China... They told me that they pay by transferring into a Chinese account. They probably don't want to be paying any accounts outside of China. Fees, plus...would that encourage anyone checking up on them? I don't know.

I'd also figure, if I were the boss, that my employee would overall be more likely to keep up with the work if they were here on the same time zone. That's hardly a strong argument.

You can always lie. If you have a VPN, not expensive, and look like you're from China, then great. Also, how will they know? As long as you also have the computer speed to make everything fast enough. Honestly, my computer is faster every else in the world besides China.